Cambria Emergency Drought Project Approved

The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board has approved permits allowing the Cambria Community Services District to operate an emergency water treatment system that would increase the community’s water supplies during the drought.

The system will take groundwater from an existing well near the District’s waste-water disposal ponds, and then use advanced methods to treat the water and remove impurities to make it drinkable.

Finally, the water will be put back into the San Simeon Creek aquifer where it will be available to the District’s existing water supply wells.

“This is an example of how regulators can work together as facilitators to get important projects done quickly,” said Board Chair Jean-Pierre Wolff of San Luis Obispo. “This facility will allow the community to improve its water security during the current and future drought periods.”

Approving the permits for this project was unusual because the Water Board, the town of Cambria, and its contractors, created the permits at the same time the design and construction of the project were being developed.

To view Central Coast Regional Water Board agendas, visit http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/board_info/agendas/2014/2014_agendas.shtml